JPC 10th Anniversary
It was 10 years ago, and this month, we launched the ministry of Journey Pastoral Coaching. From Day One, we have had one mission: helping young ministers build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry. Every day since, giving ourselves to this mission has been our happy privilege.
Journey is really all about stewarding the church’s most valuable earthly resource, its pastors, and seeing them serve from a place of soul health and wellbeing. Imagine what would happen if faith communities, global and local, joyfully embraced the responsibility and privilege of not just employing their pastors but stewarding them as the gifts of God they are (Ephesians 4.11-16). Pastors wouldn’t just survive; they would thrive! And when pastors thrive, the ministries they lead thrive as well. So, as you can see, Journey’s focus these ten years has not just been the pastor but the church: we help ministers and ministries build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry. What a joy it is and has been.
This Thanksgiving 2024, Journey Pastoral Coaching has much to be thankful for as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary. Let me share with you just a few of the blessings of these past ten years.
1. More than 200 young ministers served
Journey operates on a membership basis, accepting between 32 and 40 ministers in our coaching community each year. Also, as time permits, I frequently take one-time calls from non-Journey members. I finished just such a call a few minutes ago, a staff pastor looking for wisdom and encouragement.
To be clear, 200 is not just a number. These are 200 individuals, 200 ministries, and 200 ongoing stories. As Journey has had the privilege of walking with these 200 ministry leaders, we have influenced the ministries they lead, helping them build strong for many years of healthy effectiveness.
2. Almost 8000 coaching calls with young ministers
Over the past ten years, there have been countless conferences and seminars that young ministers can attend to learn how to develop leadership skills or grow their churches. But at Journey Pastoral Coaching, we offer young ministers the opportunity to spend an hour every other week or every month, talking one-on-one on the phone, Zoom, or apps with an experienced minister of the gospel about the challenges of life in vocational ministry. This is called membership, proven to be the most effective means of surviving and thriving in ministry
3. Walking with young ministers in 7 nations
As a US pastor and a European missionary, my heart is forever locked on the world God so loves that He gave His only begotten Son. From US college campuses to Europe to Northern Africa to India, Journey has been a part of God’s great work in making disciples of all nations. We’ve walked with church planters and pastors. We’ve shared the journeys of those leading public ministries as well as ministers serving underground.
4. Coaching young ministers in 32 different US states
From the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California to the East Coast states of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia, the Journey coaching community has been is active. From the Northern border states of Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota to the Southern states of Texas, Alabama, and Florida, Journey has been there.
5. Over 1200 peer-to-peer calls between Journey members
The number one killer of ministers is loneliness. Ironically, loneliness is most prevalent among young ministers. Why?
Reasons range from the invisible gap that exists between pastors in the same locales, to a fear of transparency, to a simple lack of opportunity. We strive to kill the killer of loneliness by opening the doors of opportunity to shared journeys – from casual relationships with ministry peers to deep, lifelong friendships for our members.
One of our essential tools is the monthly Emmaus Call, in which each member is assigned a call with another member to talk about life in ministry and spend time in prayer. The stories from these life-changing calls, and friendships developed, are endless.
As Journey members invest in Emmaus Calls they give richly to their peers, and in so doing, they receive abundantly; they experience the richness and wisdom of God as they share life in ministry together. I often refer to this Journey tool as our secret weapon: our members minister powerfully to each other.
6. Consulting, speaking, and preaching
These ten years have seen us serving local churches, state church leadership, regional church leadership, multi-denominational ministers’ groups, and colleges, as a speaker and consultant on developing coaching and mentorship ministries, and, of course, as a preacher of the Gospel. From Oregon to Massachusetts, Florida to Ohio, and points in between, it has been a joy to share the powerful ministry a coaching community can be and to preach in local churches.
For ten years, we have been a part of a growing move away from a focus on Church Growth to a renewed focus on Jesus and how He did ministry. Yes, He preached to thousands, but He focused foremost on walking with Twelve. These twelve individuals turned the world upside down. Together. Pastoral coaching and mentorship are an essential part of this ministry equation. We are thankful to join our voice and energy with many others who are issuing this clarion call to pastors and church leaders to come back to not just working together but to walking together so that we, individually and corporately, can build strong for a lifetime of healthy and effective ministry.
7. Journey’s annual member retreats
Every year for the past six years, we have held two retreats every January here in Orlando.
Lives are transformed as we gather in our small group format retreats. There are no special speakers. Instead, attendees respond to brief discussion starters that lead to conversation, laughter, tears, challenge, encouragement, and a lot of prayer. Sessions are blended with plenty of time free time for relationship-building.
It’s all free to our attendees – Journey financial partners and friends who give a special offering for member travel or retreat expenses make it all possible.
2025 will see our seventh year of retreats, gatherings that many members call the most significant spiritual experience of their year.
8. Our financial partners – the churches and individuals who make Journey possible
Young Ministers most want but can least afford pastoral coaching or mentorship. Many of them are bi-vocational. Many carry large amounts of student loan debt. They serve in entry-level ministry positions at entry-level pay, often without health or retirement benefits. Rather than adding to their burden, Journey reduces their burden by providing coaching at no financial cost. Members pay for coaching by, instead, investing in each other. Our Journey financial supporters make this possible. We thank God for their essential partnership in this ministry.
9. The churches of Journey members who invest in their pastors by supporting JPC
Some churches where our members serve choose to invest in their pastors by supporting Journey monthly. While we certainly are grateful for their partnership, we are even more thankful that they are investing in the well-being of their pastors.
Studies show that the most effective way to help pastors survive and thrive in ministry is to see them walk with a more experienced minister who can help them navigate their way. In these increasingly challenging days for ministers of the Gospel, coaching and mentorship are becoming increasingly important for churches to consider. Not for church growth methods or leadership techniques but for soul development in the lives of those who serve in vocational ministry. How thankful we are for these churches who have chosen to make it possible for a coach-mentor to share the journey of their pastor.
10. An ever growing library of resources, gathered by Journey members.
Those who know me know that I am a bibliophile. I have a great love for reading and rereading good books, for collecting and filing their wisdom for future contemplation. America’s 33rd president, Harry Truman, once said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” I wholeheartedly agree. Study the lives of life and world-changing leaders, and you’ll find this to be a common denominator, evidence of a passionate desire to be a lifelong learner. This is a personal and Journey value, one we seek to deepen in all our members.
Every quarter, Journey members add at least one resource to the Journey resource library: books, apps, podcasts, conferences, blogs, and more. This resource library is an invaluable tool for our members. Wherever they serve, they have access to these resources. It is a joy to see the number of resources our members add to our library and the range and depth of these resources. Each is evidence of a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ, a desire to grow in him, and the intention to be a lifelong learner.
A Final Big Three
1. Mission: The Great Commission
I am thankful for the privilege of being a small part of the ministry that Jesus began. And I’m thankful to be a part of doing ministry the way Jesus did it.
Church growth as a primary focus of many pastors will continue. But more and more pastors are coming home to focus not on church but on Jesus and obeying His command to make disciples, letting Jesus build His church (global and local). That means returning to Jesus’ approach to developing leaders, making disciples, and evangelizing the world: sharing the journeys of the leaders who serve with us, just as Jesus did with the Twelve.
“With a world of millions to reach, Jesus budgeted the majority of his time to be with just twelve simple men.” Gordon MacDonald
I thank God for the privilege of giving my life to this same ministry and ministry approach.
2. Community: Sharing the Journey of Life in Ministry
I am thankful for the privilege of sharing the life of every Journey member, getting to know and walk with them as they give their lives to the ministry of the Gospel, many of them sacrificing to do so. It is a sacred trust to be a part of their callings and stories and help nonmembers who have called out for our help.
It’s the privilege of serving Jesus as a pastor-shepherd to His undershepherds and leaders. As I have often said, it is a joy to pastor God’s people; it is joy multiplied to pastor those who pastor God’s people.
“Pastor, . . . you and I need to be pastored. One of the scandals of hordes of churches is that no one is pastoring their pastor. No one is helping him see what he is not seeing. No one is helping him examine his thoughts, desires, words, and behaviors. No one is regularly calling him to confession. No one is delineating where repentance is appropriate. No one is reaching into his discouragement with the truths of the presence, promises and provision of his Savior. No one is confronting his idolatry and pride. No one is alerting him to places of temptation and danger in his life.” Paul David Tripp
I thank God that I and the entire Journey coaching community are there to pastor the pastor. We help them see and examine. We call them to confess and repent. We reach out to encourage them with God’s truth and wisdom, the promise of His presence and provision. We call them to confront their idolatry and pride. We warn them of the temptations and dangers to their lives.
3. Ministry: Being a Pebble in the Pond
I am thankful to God, knowing that while what we do at Journey Pastoral Coaching is just one pebble falling into a world-sized pond of need and opportunity, the effect of that one pebble giving itself to the water extends out in ever-widening waves to all the world. It will do so for generations to come until Jesus returns.
“Who notices a pebble? We walk past pebbles and give them no notice. But take one to a placid pond, toss it onto the water’s seamless surface and an amazing thing happens: that single, insignificant pebble affects the entire pond. The pebble quickly disappears beneath the surface, leaving observers to wonder what caused the stirring. But this is of no matter. What is important is not the pebble. What is important is the stirring it brought to the pond. This is the ministry of pastoral coaching.”
This is the ministry of Journey Pastoral Coaching. I thank God for the privilege of giving my life to just this ministry for these ten years. I thank God for the privilege of being a part of this coaching community.
Saddled with large student debt, just beginning to set up homes and start families, and serving in low paying first and second positions, Millennials are those who most desire but can least afford to pay for pastoral coaching.
We are able to do so thanks to the faithful and generous support of individuals and churches like yours who want to see young leaders not only enter the ministry, but remain in the ministry.
Now, more than ever, we need your help.
If you or your church would like to help Millennial ministers across the US and overseas build strong for a lifetime in ministry, please click here to support Journey monthly or with your one-time gift. Thank you.
We also invite you to click and subscribe to our twice-monthly blogs at journeypastoralcoaching.com
